Shoes--my whole kingdom for Shoes!

Well, maybe that's a little drastic, but I love shoes! not...let me rephrase that; if shoes where a man, I would have a revolving door at divorce court. As soon as I see a new pair, I would divorce my old pair and start down the aisle to blissful happiness with my new love; that is until a new pair came across my email from Saks 5th Avenue. Have you seen this little gem? At least three times a week, I get an email telling me of a new sale going on for the "must have shoes of the season".

Now don't they know they can't tell me that I "must have" some kind of shoe..because most of the time, I MUST HAVE THEM. Ugh...what is a girl to do?

Well let me tell you, I got some very disturbing news this week. I have to refrain from wearing heels higher than 3 inches for at least 30 days. Now, people; espeically women. I am NOT a whiner, but today I must whine.

I ONLY wear heels that are higher than 3 inches. Ok, it is because of a nasty little thing called a kidney infection that my heel wearing has to be curtailed. Something about the added pressure of the heel height in relation to my back which in turn causes stress on my kideny. Well who told my kidney to get sick, certainly not I; as I have been drinking WAY more than the allowed 8 glasses of water..., the way I look at it, if I only wear the heels to work, and then sit at my desk all day, and only get up to go to the microwave to heat up my lunch and then walk back out to my vehicle, technically I haven't WORN the heels all day, right?

So as I sit here, looking at my lonely 4 and 5 inches heels (and they are looking so sad that I have not chosen a pair of them to put on) I have the most compelling problem. I can avoid all sidewards glances, from the people who know about my little predicament, and simple wear some boring flat shoes (ok, dont throw stones at me, I'm just not a flat shoe wearer) OR I can simple, smile, pick out a modest pair of 4 inch heels and start my week off with a smile.

Either way, somehow I just know that the heel police will be lurking to catch me.

Write, now?

Have you ever been asked, when do you have time to write?
I am asked this almost every day, and on the day that I am not asked that, I'm answering emails about it.

Well, I'll answer that question like I normally do.

I don't FIND time to write, the time FINDS me.

I write whenever the mood strikes me. I might be in the shower and a thought will hit me and I will grab my cellphone; call myself and leave a voicemail. Then I'll go back and listen to it and continue the thought on paper. Other times, I can be sitting at my "real" job and my characters will 'walk in the room' and start "talking". I keep a steno pad on my desk, at all times, that I use for this very purpose.

Now, it gets a little tricker when I'm driving, but I manage. (I won't share that little trick, as there are now laws in place)

So, when do you find the time to write.

How about, write now.

What is a good book?

This week we will discuss books. I myself like many different types of books. Besides reading my own books, I love a good urban book, not to be confused with street lit novels. I like a story to move along and pull me in to it so much, that I will lose sleep trying to read, "just one more page".

Actually I have bought books and sat in the parking lot of Borders and read almost half of the book before driving off. I have my list of favorite authors, E. Lynn Harris being at the top of that list. He passed away about almost two years ago, and he wrote books that dealt with down-low brothers and the gay community. I have recently found a new author that has pulled me into a genre of books that I never thought I would enjoy.

I never thought I was a mystery kinda girl, but it turns out that I am. I first read The Troubleshooter by Austin S. Camacho and absolutely fell in love with the story. Maybe I should say I fell in love with a character. I fell in love with Hannibal Jones, who is a private detective.  If this was a "real" man..I would be all OVER him. But I digress. The author of the Hannibal Jones Series is Mr. Austin S. Camacho.

Camacho spins a story so well that I can't wait to turn the next page. (Yes, this would be the book that I would read in the parking lot of Borders.)

Many of Camacho's stories involves some sort of problem that only Mr. Jones (Hannibal) can solve. Now why can't that man be real, or is he?
See that's the beauty of a good book. You wish that the story was real, even though you know that shoot outs don't happen during the middle of the day with a street full of people. 

I would encourage everyone to go to your local Borders (better hurry before it closes its doors for good) and grab a book by a new author off the shelf. You might be amazed at how great the story could be.


If you want to know more about Hannibal Jones or Austin S. Camacho, visit: http://www.ascamacho.com/ and while you are surfing the net; be sure to stop by my website: http://bswanginwebster.webs.com/

What's in a name?

For me, it was about honoring the people that have always been in my corner. When I first thought about being an author, I knew I didn't want to use my 'real' name.
Truth of the matter; it was BORING. So I started to come up with all types of things to show my love of writing.

The name was 'handed' to me when a cousin came into the kitchen and called my dad Webster (which is his last name) and he called her by her last name, Swangin. Which is also my mom's maiden name.OK, I digress for a moment. The proper pronunciation is Swang-in.

I knew that I needed a hook. However,being Webster-Swangin wasn't enough. I played with the order and decided that it needed something more. The letter B came from my married name and so began my career as an author named, B. Swangin Webster.

Now, the first thing people ask me is: Is that real? and I ask them; what do you think? The most inventive explanation came from a woman at a book signing that said. Wow, you must really love writing. I asked her why she asked that and she said, "Doesn't your name mean you're swinging those words around?" I was a bit confused until she said. "You know, swinging, but you used the slang term and words;for Webster-like the dictionary." Just like on Family Feud, I clapped and said, "good answer" (although it earned a loud X) She seemed so excited; I didn't have the heart to tell her that she was wrong.